COVID-19: 32 more prisoners released in J&K, tally reaches 236

Thirty-two prisoners, including 16 arrested under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), were released to decongest jails across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, officials said on Sunday.

A total of 236 prisoners have been released this month by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on the directions of the Supreme Court.

Thirty-two more prisoners were released from various jails between April 14 and 17. They included 16 who were held under PSA and six under trial prisoners besides two who were released on parole, a senior government official told PTI.

He said the highest number of 11 prisoners including 10 PSA detainees were released from the Central Jail Kot Bhalwal in Jammu followed by eight from Central Jail Srinagar.

Those released from Central Jail Srinagar included three PSA detainees and an equal number of undertrials besides one who was set free on parole.

Three PSA detainees were released from sub-jail Hiranagar, district jail Anantnag and district jail ...